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Reiko’s Manners

Chapter 61

Treat me to a Ko-Fi to give me more motivation!!!

*****

The next day, led by Sara-chan and the others, I headed to the hospital where Fuki was hospitalized. Fuki was staying in a 12th-floor VIP room at a private hospital in Tokyo. We met up in the first-floor lobby. When Sou-kun pushed my wheelchair to the spot, Mandarouji-sama and Takanashi-sama were already there. With Sara-chan and Sou-kun joining them, it was truly a dazzling group. It was reminiscent of the *Yūkan Club*. When we took the elevator up to the 12th floor, there was a lounge. Despite being a hospital, it was built like a hotel.

「Rei-chan, are you okay? We will be waiting right here. We'll be waiting in this lounge, so don't worry.」

Sara-chan gave me a tight hug. She smelled wonderful. I can do this. With Sara-chan pushing my wheelchair, I followed behind Takanashi-sama. When we reached the front of Fuki's hospital room, I naturally started to feel nervous.

「Fuki-grandma, we're coming in.」

Takanashi-sama said in a terribly blunt tone. This time, it seemed he couldn't forgive Fuki either. Up until now, it had only been his mother, but now the person he harbored resentment toward had increased. The one supporting him through that must be Miu Yuuki-san. But I let it slide for today. I didn't have the emotional bandwidth to spare.

Parting ways with Sara-chan in front of the hospital room, I had Takanashi-sama push my wheelchair as we entered the room. It was a luxurious space that hardly felt like a hospital room at all. It was filled with high-end furnishings. The furniture was all coordinated by Drexel Heritage, and atop the chest sat a vase by the Müller brothers—a Val Saint Lambert-style° cameo glass piece. This was not a hospital room; it was a room meant solely for recuperation.

Noticing my presence, Fuki's eyes widened in astonishment. Apparently, Takanashi-sama hadn't told Fuki that I was coming to visit. Reporting, communicating, and consulting are important things—could he really manage in the student council with habits like that?

「Fuki-san, it has been a long time.」

「Reiko-sama...」

Wearing a nightgown made from *menkōbai* cotton fabric, Fuki looked quite haggard. Yet, she still possessed her characteristically pale skin and meticulously cared-for hair. Fuki's eyes drifted to the cast on my left arm.

「Reiko-sama! Your arm—did you injure your arm?! Will you still be able to play the piano just like before?」

Fuki got down from the bed, knelt before me, timidly touched the cast on my arm, and looked up at me.

「Fuki-san, the cast will be removed in just over another week, and they say I'll be able to play the piano just as before.」

「Oh, thank goodness. Thank goodness! I wouldn't have been able to show my face to Mari-sama in heaven.」

She was more worried about whether I could play the piano than about my physical well-being. It left me with an indescribable feeling.

「Hey, Fuki-grandma! Don't you have something to say to Kujouin-san? Properly apologize for what you did!」

「Takanashi-sama, please do not speak to her in that manner. I did not come here seeking an apology. I merely wish to know what Fuki-san was thinking when she stayed by Mari-sama's side, and why she hurt the landlady so deeply—that is all I want to ask.」

「Reiko-sama! There is no need for you to use such polite language toward a lowly person like Ryou. Always carry yourself with dignity. Mari-sama in heaven will scold you for that.」

「Fuki-san, I believe Mari-sama is in hell, not heaven.」

「Reiko-sama, what a terrible thing to say!」

I let out a wry smile. Why on earth would anyone think Mari was in heaven?

「To Fuki-san, what kind of existence was Mari-sama to you?」

「...Ryou-kun, please leave the room. I wish to speak with Reiko-sama alone.」

Takanashi-sama left, glancing back at me repeatedly.

In the spacious hospital room, it was just Fuki and me. Fuki seated herself in a chair.

「Reiko-sama, you heard the story about Setsu Midoriya, didn't you? That girl was not suited for Touru-sama. We could not allow the blood of such a woman to enter the traditional, prestigious Kujouin family. I merely did what was right for that purpose.」

Fuki said, looking straight at me—as if there was any justification for the way she had treated the landlady.

「That is not something for Fuki-san to decide. Mari-sama intended to accept the landlady, didn't she?」

「Mari-sama is ignorant of the ways of the world. And she is a noble person. That is why I acted in Mari-sama's stead.」

「Mari-sama is noble? Fuki-san, that is absurd. Mari-sama was merely an arrogant pianist. I have wondered about it ever since I was a child: why did you revere her so much? You said she rescued you back when you were a stray child in the past, didn't you? Is devotion to Mari-sama something that could be born from that alone?」

Fuki's face twisted into the expression of a hannya demon.

「Just that alone? What could Reiko-sama, who has lived a blessed life, possibly understand? Reiko-sama cannot comprehend my feelings.」

「A blessed life? On what grounds do you say that? It is true that I was allowed to live a clean life without ever going hungry. But nobody loved me. Both Fuki-san and Mari-sama tried to return baby-me to Father, didn't you? And afterward, Fuki-san tried to abandon infant-me because you found me repulsive. I loved Fuki-san dearly. Even after hearing such stories, I still cannot completely harbor hatred toward you. It makes me unbearably sad.」

Fuki closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

「Reiko-sama. What is it that you wish to hear? I merely did what I believed in.」

「That is why I want to know what you believed in.」

「Mari-sama. I have only Mari-sama.」

「Yet Fuki-san, Mari-sama called you a whore when her dementia progressed.」

Fuki's face twisted.

「That cannot be... Mari-sama would never say such a thing. Reiko-sama, you must not lie.」

I gazed at Fuki as she was shaken.

「Didn't Mari-sama curse at you, calling you a 'salope'? You must remember hearing it. 'Salope' is French for whore. When you tried to stop a rampaging Mari-sama, she would say things like, 'Lache-moi, cinglée de salope!' wouldn't she? In Japanese, that means, 'Let go of me, you crazy whore!' As Mari-sama's dementia advanced, her choice of words became vulgar. Fortunately, since it was in French, it didn't wound you directly, so I was actually relieved.」

Fuki turned completely pale. Could she recall something about it?

「Ah... in her final years, Mari-sama spoke French almost exclusively. And I do remember the sound of that word. So Reiko-sama knew I was being called a whore and stayed silent... What a foolish child, especially after I subjected you to such treatment. Did you want my love that badly?」

Saying that, Fuki twisted her face and began to weep.

「Mari-sama never forgave me, did she? Reiko-sama, I will tell you. Everything.」

Fuki wiped away her tears and began to speak in a quiet voice.

The story that Mari had spotted Fuki at first glance and rescued her when she stood on the streets at age twelve to sell her body for the first time—that was not true.

Fuki had already been selling her body and was kept by occupation soldiers. At thirteen years old at the time, Fuki was no longer a stray child; she was the mistress of a pedophilic officer. One day, taken by that officer while wearing a beautiful dress, she went to a party. There, the peerlessly beautiful Mari was playing the piano. Fuki was captivated by Mari in an instant.

At that moment, a colonel from the GHQ general staff hit on Mari while she was performing. Angered at having her performance interrupted, Mari poured nearby champagne over the colonel and walked out of the venue.

Fuki chased after Mari and left the venue. She didn't know why she chased her. Mari was so breathtakingly beautiful and noble that Fuki simply couldn't help following her.

Noticing Fuki, Mari looked at her and said:

「What a beautiful child. I like you. Become my maid.」

Mari asked her husband, Juuichirou Kujouin, to sort things out with the pedophilic officer. In the first place, Mari was a world-class pianist, and under normal circumstances, she had no reason to be treated like that. She had come to play the piano only upon her husband's request and under the promise that she would play just three pieces. Fuki was asked her name and age.

「Yamada Fuki, twelve years old.」

Fuki stated the age she had been before her body was defiled. From then on, Fuki became utterly devoted to the goddess Mari, who had saved her.

*****

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